The Russian military has launched airstrikes against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria with cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, France's Le Monde newspaper said, citing a French official. The information that Russia has struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa has been also reported by a senior French government source, cited by Reuters.

A US official told Reuters that Moscow has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russia gave notice to Washington ahead of the airstrikes, in accordance with an agreement on air safety, US official said, adding that some of Russian strikes had targeted Raqqa, the stronghold of IS militants.

If confirmed, this would be the second time Russia has hit Islamic State positions in Syria from the sea. The first attack was in October this year when Russian warships fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea to hit several Islamic State positions in Syria.

On September 30, Russia launched its military operation against Islamic State at the request of the Syrian government. Since the start of the operation the Russian military have destroyed hundreds of extremist targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Homs, Idlib and Latakia.

Earlier on Tuesday France's defense ministry confirmed that Raqqa was also being targeted by the French military.

A teenage girl left her London home last autumn in an attempt to join the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) involved in the struggle against Islamic State, telling her parents she wanted to be a “militant,” an Old Bailey jury heard.

Silhan Ozcelik, 18, left her north London home last October and travelled to Brussels in order to join the PKK, indicating in a letter and video left behind for her parents that she would then travel to wherever the party sent her. “As you read this letter at this moment I will have joined the PKK ranks. Believe me this is the right thing for me to do. I am so happy right now that I have become a militant,”her letter read. The teenager is being tried for“engaging in conduct in preparation for giving an effect to an intention to commit acts of terrorism”under the Terrorism Act 2006.

A friendly game between the German and Dutch national teams in Hannover has been cancelled, German media report, citing police sources. The stadium is being evacuated.

The match was cancelled due to “security reasons,” police earlier told AFP.

The evacuation of the stadium is underway. Spectators that had already taken their places in the stands have been asked to leave the stadium via loudspeakers.

A “specific threat” has prompted the evacuations according to German BILD, citing police sources. Security services have received information about a potential terrorist attack “that should be taken seriously,” according to dpa, a German news agency.

Police have reportedly found an ambulance car “full of explosives” outside the Hannover stadium, according to a local newspaper, citing police sources.

Russia doubling number of airstrikes in Syria

Russia has deployed its fleet of strategic bombers to double the number of airstrikes on Islamist targets in Syria, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has announced. Twenty-five long-range bombers flying from Russian airfields will also be deployed.

France has invoked an EU treaty collective defense article requesting military help from its European partners in response to the terror attacks in Paris. EU officials say the mutual defense article is being used for the first time.

The assistance would come from 28 European partners under Article 42.7 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which outlines mutual defense among the EU members. Called the ‘mutual defense clause’, the Article reads that if any EU country “is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.”

US, Turkey launch operation to take entire northern border with Syria under control

The US and Turkey intend to shut off Turkey’s border with Syria in a joint military operation, US Secretary of State John Kerry said. The northern part of Syria along the border with Turkey has long been contested between Kurd militias and fighters of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). The US previously voiced its intention to train and arm a moderate Syrian force that would take control over the area and defend it from IS, preventing the smuggling of fighters, arms and other goods across the border.

Prime Minister David Cameron says he will make the case for extending the UK’s war against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) into Syria in the coming days, hinting he will press for a parliamentary vote next week.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the prime minister said the attacks in Paris on Friday justify a “full spectrum approach,”including military power, counter-terrorism action and countering the narrative of extremism.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he will only back military action if it is legally backed by the UN.

Hacktivist group Anonymous has reported that more than 5,500 Twitter accounts belonging to Islamic State have been taken down. It comes after the collective declared a “total war” on the militant group following the Paris attacks.

The group vowed to use their skills to “unite humanity,” and warned terrorists to “expect massive cyber-attacks.”

“Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down,” the spokesman in the video said. “You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go.”

The Russian military has launched airstrikes against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria with cruise missiles from their ships in the Mediterranean Sea, France’s Le Monde newspaper said, citing a French official.

The information that Russia has struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa has been also reported by a senior French government source, cited by Reuters.

A US official told Reuters that Moscow has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. He added that Russia gave notice to Washington ahead of the airstrikes, in accordance with an agreement on air safety.

Egypt is holding two employees of Sharm el-Sheikh Airport on suspicion of assisting those who planted the explosive device on the Russian Metrojet plane on October 31, two security officials said, as cited by Reuters.

The information comes following the statement by Russian Federal Security Service saying the Sinai plane crash was a terrorist attack.

The Russian plane crash in Sinai, Egypt, was caused by a terrorist attack as traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of the plane, Federal Security Service director Aleksandr Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin.

“We can say that that [Sinai plane crash] was a terror act,” Bortnikov told Putin. According to the FSB chief, experts analyzed passengers’ belongings as well as the parts of the plane. “After the examination on all these objects, we have found traces of a foreign-made explosive substance,” Bortnikov said.

“During the flight, a homemade device with the power of 1.5 kilograms of TNT was detonated. As a result, the plane fell apart in the air, which can be explained by the huge scattering of the fuselage parts of the plane,” he added.

Russian plane crash in Sinai a terrorist attack

The Russian plane crash in Sinai, Egypt, was caused by a terrorist attack as traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of the plane, Federal Security Service director Aleksandr Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin.

At the 39th extraordinary session of the regional maslikhat the Governor of Atyrau Oblast (region) Baktykozha Izmukhambetov strongly urged inhabitants to be security-conscious:

– You all know about the latest events in Paris, about the crash of the Russian plane in Egypt. Please don't think that it occurs somewhere miles away. We have adherents of nonconventional religious trends and persons who fight on the side of ISIL in Syria, there are mothers who left their children behind to follow them. I strongly urge the citizens of our region to pay attention to your environment – the times are like that now. In case of appearance of slightest danger I would ask people to report to law enforcement agencies.